Fumble!

Oh, the little things that get buried in the sports page of the newspaper! The National Football League's (NFL, "American football") team owners approved two items this week which are effective with this year's season:

1.) Video Replay -- the owners approved by a vote of 30 to 2 (Cincinnati and Arizona voted "no" so my congratulations to them for trying to preserve the heritage of the game!!) to make the video replay system a permanent addition to the on-field officiating to rule on any disputed calls and penalties. So now each team must spend $300,000 to install all the required video equipment instead of using cash like this to sponsor local sports programs that would not only be a good public relations move but would also help combat childhood obesity.

2.) Coach-to-Player Communications -- the owners voted "no" on a proposal that would have allowed defensive players to utilize wireless communications with their coaches in the same way that quarterbacks interact with their coach/offensive coordinator today. Since I am "old school" when it comes to sports (and most everything really), especially football, I would rather not see any wireless devices used but if the offense is going to have this tool then the defense should be given the same tools. If the NFL simply wants to enable teams to score more points each game to generate more excitement -- phasing out the Video Replay system to speed up the game's pace would be a great start -- by giving an advantage to the offense that is crazy because any defensive unit can score via fumbles and interceptions of course.

My advice to the NFL is that the "throw back jerseys" you have added to some games to tap into our weakness for nostalgia do not go far enough -- scrap the electronics and let your teams play some ball.

Todd